Indiana Fans: This Is a Once-in-a-Lifetime Moment

This is a game week like none we've ever seen for the Indiana Hoosiers football team.

It's simple: beat Oregon in Friday night's Peach Bowl, and you play for a national championship.

Two short years ago, that thought would have gotten you laughed out of every bar in Bloomington, from Nick's to Kilroy's. Now the impossible dream is starting to come into sight, and perhaps the greatest story in the modern era of college football is this close to being written.

It wasn't long ago that Indiana fans would have been thrilled with simply getting annual bowl appearances and perhaps just one season of threatening 10 wins. Now it looks like the Hoosiers are set up to be a force in the sport for the foreseeable future, which makes the next two weeks that much more important for the Hoosiers' faithful.

Advice for Indiana Fans - Enjoy this Moment, Right Here, Right Now

I know I just said above that Indiana looks primed to make College Football Playoff runs the new norm, but living in the moment right now is of the utmost importance for Hoosiers everywhere.

Because things will never be the same after the confetti hopefully runs down on Curt Cignetti and company in Atlanta and then Miami.

Although anyone who has watched Indiana football this season knows the Hoosiers are at very worst, as good as any team in college football, the underdog story still remains.

Nationally, it's still "Indiana," and because of that, some refuse to believe what their own eyes have long told them about this dominant squad.

At least for now.

We've already seen Indiana grab the transfer portal by the horns and reload for what should be another extremely talented team next year. The Hoosiers won't be entering next year as underdogs like they were this and last year, though. They'll enter 2026 as one of the favorites to win the Big Ten and again challenge for the national championship.

Not that fans shouldn't hope their teams all become legitimate championship contenders one day, but it's a different feeling as a fan when you go from the underdog story to the powerhouse.

Sports Experiences Tell Us Nothing is Guaranteed

If you're to list college football programs with the best outlooks over the next five years, you'll have trouble finding many that compare to that of Indiana.

That doesn't mean it's a guarantee that this is the new norm though, either.

Somehow it was a decade ago that the Chicago Cubs ended their World Series drought, beating the Cleveland Indians in seven games. The Cubs were my first favorite sports team as a kid and that championship meant more to me by a wide margin than any of the others my favorite teams ever won.

But with Theo Epstein running a team that was made up of young stars like Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Indiana's finest Kyle Schwarber, there was supposed to be more than one world championship.

Or at least more than one National League pennant.

Yet that group would never win a second National League crown together, only making it back to one NLCS after.

What Indiana basketball fan could have possibly thought back in the Spring of 1987 that the Hoosiers would only make two Final Fours over the next 38 years? And that Bob Knight would only coach Indiana back to one more?

"I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them."

When Andy Bernard said that in the series finale of The Office he may as well have been talking like a sports fan.

Outside of extreme cases, it tends to come and go so fast, and as much as it may seem the opposite, nothing is guaranteed.

If you're an Indiana fan who has been dreaming of times like this for a while, do yourself a favor and somehow go further in. Yes, you've bought into the team and are excited, but take it to the next step.

That old roommate or classmate you used to sit through 3-8 seasons with at Memorial Stadium, but haven't spoken to for years? Look them up on social media or however is necessary and give them a call.

Your family member who played a massive role in you falling in love with Hoosiers athletics? If at all able, make plans to watch Friday's Peach Bowl, and hopefully the National Championship game to follow, with them.

It may seem like this will be the new normal for Indiana, and hopefully that's the case. Anyone who has watched sports for an extended period of time though knows there is no such thing as a guarantee.

But on top of that, there is nothing that compares to the first time, either.

So do whatever you must for the next two weeks, but understand that for better or worse, it'll never feel quite like this year and this run have, again.